Third stage win for Vos in Tour de l’Aude

Holland?s Marianne Vos (DSB Bank) scored her third stage win in less than a week at the Tour de l?Aude at Espezel.

Nicole Cooke (Vision 1) crossed the line second, a repeat of stage four?s result. The only sprint finish not to have gone the way of the prolific cyclo-cross World Champion this week was stage three when the 21 year old crashed in the closing kilometre.

?Nicole is still looking for that elusive first victory in the World Champion?s jersey,? said Vision 1 team manager Stefan Wyman, ?but her form is coming so it won?t be far away.?

The penultimate stage in the ten-day event in south-west France featured four first category climbs that split the race apart for the fourth day running.

?It was really hilly as expected and the bunch ripped to pieces on the first climb at 30km,? said Wyman.

The five riders to profit from the early split were Vos, Cooke, plus team-mate Christel Ferrier-Bruneau, Grace Verbeke (Lotto Belisol) and Svetlana Bubnenkova (Fenixs). The fragmented bunch would not be seeing them again.

The final climb of Col de Belvis seven kilometres from the finish saw Ferrier-Bruneau lose touch, leaving a four-way sprint that Vos took from Cooke, with young Belgian prospect Verbeke third.

More than two minutes passed before the yellow jersey group containing Cervelo’s Claudia Hausler crossed the line, but the German remains in control with one day of racing to go. Vos moves up to third overall, relagating American Kistin Armstrong one position.

Sunday?s final stage of 87km starts and finishes in Limoux and offers no respite for weary legs, with five categorised climbs.